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keyro's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Firstly, I don’t see too many reviews mentioning that this is an “age-gap” fantasy romance book. Age-gap used lightly since she was 16 and he was falling for her, although he said he wouldn’t touch her until she was of age.. alarming and very.. child groomy.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoy the past/present jumps but it also made it gross just listening in detail for how much they cared for one another romantically while she was a TEEN.
As far as the writing, it’s a STEP UP from those terrible wattpad-esque, It’s easily digestible.
I wish we got more of a POV from Des or learned more about him, we know surface level details, hoping the 2nd book will dig deeper, if it is, then it was a semi-great intro to Callie, although towards the end - she was set out to be a damsel in distress which is contradictory when callie was initially written to be a strong person.
Rhapsodic - 3.5/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
readyforit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
4.25⭐️1.5🌶️(I was promised spice with this series and honestly there were only a couple scenes and they weren’t super graphic)
This book is an urban romantasy set in our modern world but with an unknown other fae world. Callie is a human with siren powers who we learn has 322 debts to repay to The Bargainer (aka the fae king of the night realm aka aka rhysand 2.0). The story flips back and forth between Callie’s teenage years (about 7 years ago) when she made the bargains and present day, when The Bargainer has finally come to collect. Des is a possessive, obsessive, desperate man who would crawl home to her. I love how he’s only soft for her🥹 Callie is another one of those copy-paste badass FMC who is sassy and can fight and get shit done. You know her, you either love or hate her.
This book has a lot of similar elements to ACOTAR. If you hated how much world-building was in ACOTAR, you’ll probably enjoy this more since the world-building is minimal and woven into the flashbacks. I think it was a bit misleading of the author to write that the bargainer had “something else in mind” for Callie to repay her debts, which is honestly a really good premise for a spicy book, but didn’t deliver. Whoever rated it a 4/5🌶️ is out of their mind lmao.
I’ve read a lot of criticism about how des grooms Callie, and I think if that is a trigger for you, just skip this book. I don’t think des uses grooming techniques to form a relationship with Callie. I think they were two lonely people, one a human teenager and one the equivalent of a fae adolescent or young adult (idk he’s like 200 something), who formed a deep friendship that evolved into something more. He technically waited until she was 23 to come back to be with her and still gives her a choice. If every relationship between a human teenager and supernatural 100+ yo MMC is grooming then we also have to criticize twilight, the vampire diaries, ACOTAR, etc. It’s important to remember that this is 1. Fantasy and 2. Fiction.
Overall, I really liked the book but I don’t think I’ll reread unless the rest of the series really grips me. I felt like the first part of the book was very good and then the climax was a little lacking. I assume the villain will show back up later in the series.
I also listened to the audiobook and the narrator is pretty good! I would’ve liked it better if they hired a male narrator to do a duet for des’ lines but he doesn’t get a pov so I understand why they didn’t.
This book is an urban romantasy set in our modern world but with an unknown other fae world. Callie is a human with siren powers who we learn has 322 debts to repay to The Bargainer (aka the fae king of the night realm aka aka rhysand 2.0). The story flips back and forth between Callie’s teenage years (about 7 years ago) when she made the bargains and present day, when The Bargainer has finally come to collect. Des is a possessive, obsessive, desperate man who would crawl home to her. I love how he’s only soft for her🥹 Callie is another one of those copy-paste badass FMC who is sassy and can fight and get shit done. You know her, you either love or hate her.
This book has a lot of similar elements to ACOTAR. If you hated how much world-building was in ACOTAR, you’ll probably enjoy this more since the world-building is minimal and woven into the flashbacks. I think it was a bit misleading of the author to write that the bargainer had “something else in mind” for Callie to repay her debts, which is honestly a really good premise for a spicy book, but didn’t deliver. Whoever rated it a 4/5🌶️ is out of their mind lmao.
I’ve read a lot of criticism about how des grooms Callie, and I think if that is a trigger for you, just skip this book. I don’t think des uses grooming techniques to form a relationship with Callie. I think they were two lonely people, one a human teenager and one the equivalent of a fae adolescent or young adult (idk he’s like 200 something), who formed a deep friendship that evolved into something more. He technically waited until she was 23 to come back to be with her and still gives her a choice. If every relationship between a human teenager and supernatural 100+ yo MMC is grooming then we also have to criticize twilight, the vampire diaries, ACOTAR, etc. It’s important to remember that this is 1. Fantasy and 2. Fiction.
Overall, I really liked the book but I don’t think I’ll reread unless the rest of the series really grips me. I felt like the first part of the book was very good and then the climax was a little lacking. I assume the villain will show back up later in the series.
I also listened to the audiobook and the narrator is pretty good! I would’ve liked it better if they hired a male narrator to do a duet for des’ lines but he doesn’t get a pov so I understand why they didn’t.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Body horror, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Confinement, Pedophilia, and Rape
Rape and CSA is mentioned but in the past and nondescriptvreyna20_2004's review against another edition
2.5
Good God. I’ve heard that this book was bad but Jesus Christ. I couldn’t even come up with good things about this book. Let me begin with some nitpicks of mine. Callypso Lillis is the name for the main character. I know it’s a real name, but it’s spelled like Calypso not Callypso and why Lillis?? Anyway, onto the next one. Desmond Flynn. His name is Desmond. I had thought he would have a badass name but no, his name is Desmond Flynn. Onto the next, Temperance. I’ve read two books with that name, and I can’t take it seriously. You’re going to look me in my face and tell me Temperance is a real name?? Good Lord. I went into this book as blindly as possible and no one mentioned not even the book about how Desmond isn’t the only supernatural being in this book. There was werewolves which I didn’t know Cally’s ex-boyfriend was one until she mentioned it and she also is a siren. This would’ve made sense if the author simply said so in the beginning of the book that there’s supernaturals in this world which also just so happens to be located in motherfucking Los Angeles because LA is the most magical and mystical place on Earth. It also took until Chapter 8 for ANY fantasy to happen. Fucking chapter 8 and it didn’t take until half of the book for my interest to be piqued.
They characters suck cause most of the time they’re together, they want to fuck each other so badly it literally deosn’t seem like a book more like let’s watch these two horny ass people want to fuck each other, not fuck. Whenever Callypso is horny she would call her vagina “lady parts” which was a lot. And God was hearing Callypso say “my Siren” got on my fucking nerves and the whole glamor also. Then theres edge lord Desmond Flynn talking about “deep stuff” only for him to say this most current time saying of all time and then the fact that he knew Cally when she was 16 and still had feelings for her but the book tries to excuse it as “in the supernatural world, 16 is considered an adult” like no, shut the fuck up. It gave me the ick so badly.
The story went so slow and then so fast in a manner of seconds I couldn’t even keep up with anything. It was all Des and Cally confessing and then them doing it over and over to Cally talking to the client only to get kidnapped and then she gets wings all of a sudden. I had to reread it and I was still confused. I also hated how they just killed Karnon without questioning him. That man committed war crimes but they let him die because Desmond got angy (I meant that spelling) and kills him because he touched Cally.
There’s only a few things I like about this book like the way Des says “mouthy thing” I can’t deny but blush at that or the fact that Des begged for more than a kiss and obviously the fact that he saved her even if it was late but it wasn’t worth it with the countless things I did hate about this book.
They characters suck cause most of the time they’re together, they want to fuck each other so badly it literally deosn’t seem like a book more like let’s watch these two horny ass people want to fuck each other, not fuck. Whenever Callypso is horny she would call her vagina “lady parts” which was a lot. And God was hearing Callypso say “my Siren” got on my fucking nerves and the whole glamor also. Then theres edge lord Desmond Flynn talking about “deep stuff” only for him to say this most current time saying of all time and then the fact that he knew Cally when she was 16 and still had feelings for her but the book tries to excuse it as “in the supernatural world, 16 is considered an adult” like no, shut the fuck up. It gave me the ick so badly.
The story went so slow and then so fast in a manner of seconds I couldn’t even keep up with anything. It was all Des and Cally confessing and then them doing it over and over to Cally talking to the client only to get kidnapped and then she gets wings all of a sudden. I had to reread it and I was still confused. I also hated how they just killed Karnon without questioning him. That man committed war crimes but they let him die because Desmond got angy (I meant that spelling) and kills him because he touched Cally.
There’s only a few things I like about this book like the way Des says “mouthy thing” I can’t deny but blush at that or the fact that Des begged for more than a kiss and obviously the fact that he saved her even if it was late but it wasn’t worth it with the countless things I did hate about this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Slavery, and Alcohol
tyiennasreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Literally is like a Wattpad fanfic but that’s what makes it fun.. I guess… I saw someone say don’t think to hard and I agree just don’t think too hard into the plot 😂
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence
novaxnovels's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Move over Rysand, I’m a Des girlie now.
HOLY COW. I did not expect this book to blow me away!! From the very first line of the book I was super invested. I looooved the nods to SJM. It gave ACOTAR vibes without feeling like a copycat moment. Sure, there were some similarities, but I kinda loved it? The only reason I’m not doing 5 stars is because I found the 16-year-old bits of the story to be a bit … creepy. (SPOILERS) - he falls first, KNOWS they’re soulmates when she’s 16. Yeah he doesn’t act on it then, but the feeling that he would have just gave me a bit of a bad vibe. BUT, I am willing to absolutely blow past that because of how much I adored the plot. The mystery and the general spooky factor = happy reader. Not to mention that absolute perfection that was the longing, the tension, the DESIRE. I MELTED (The Harry potter movies. Need I say more???)
Also, I hope it was intentional but the little Gatsby reference just made my heart soar.
I absolutely can’t wait to start the next book and see where it all goes.
Trigger warnings: mentions of sexual assault and rape (past and present, not directly depicted on page but strong descriptions and emotional relivings)
HOLY COW. I did not expect this book to blow me away!! From the very first line of the book I was super invested. I looooved the nods to SJM. It gave ACOTAR vibes without feeling like a copycat moment. Sure, there were some similarities, but I kinda loved it? The only reason I’m not doing 5 stars is because I found the 16-year-old bits of the story to be a bit … creepy. (SPOILERS) - he falls first, KNOWS they’re soulmates when she’s 16. Yeah he doesn’t act on it then, but the feeling that he would have just gave me a bit of a bad vibe. BUT, I am willing to absolutely blow past that because of how much I adored the plot. The mystery and the general spooky factor = happy reader. Not to mention that absolute perfection that was the longing, the tension, the DESIRE. I MELTED (The Harry potter movies. Need I say more???)
Also, I hope it was intentional but the little Gatsby reference just made my heart soar.
I absolutely can’t wait to start the next book and see where it all goes.
Trigger warnings: mentions of sexual assault and rape (past and present, not directly depicted on page but strong descriptions and emotional relivings)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
kamreher's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
per my spreadsheet:
i will be read reading the next ones lol
noted.
spice 🌶 - a 4 🌶 spicy (romance.io scale)
length - just right
reading speed - read in 4 days
did it make me cry? - no
i will be read reading the next ones lol
noted.
spice 🌶 - a 4 🌶 spicy (romance.io scale)
length - just right
reading speed - read in 4 days
did it make me cry? - no
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse
gracegetsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape and Adult/minor relationship
char_gadling's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This series is certainly addictive, and our main character is genuinely one of my favourite narrative voices, this series is both fun and deals with more serious topics at the same time. Looking forward to reading more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
kjwest's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
lemonplay's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Nonlinear narrative and normally I wouldn’t mind, but there isn’t much development between then and now wich makes it a bit hard to keep up.
Not so much a slow burn in my opinion, he’s breadcrumbing her and just keeps her hanging. Sometimes acting more like a big brother rather than the love interest. Harry Potter is mentioned on several occasions, which feels a bit silly. Can’t really imagine the MMC reading HP books for fun, but on the other hand I don’t prefer books that takes place in the modern age.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Rape